Jules Maigret

Creation In the spring of 1929, Simenon set off for a tour of northern France, Belgium and Holland in his boat, the Ostrogoth. He had begun contributing detective stories to a new magazine called Détective and also published popular novels, mainly with the publisher Fayard. During his northern tour, Simenon wrote three popular novels which featured a police inspector named Maigret: Train de nuit (Night Train), La femme rousse (The Red-Headed Woman) and ''La maison de l'inquiétude (The House of Anxiety). He began working on Train de nuit, or possibly Pietr-le-Letton (Pietr the Latvian), in September 1929 when the Ostrogoth'' was undergoing repairs in the Dutch city of Delfzijl. On his return to Paris in April 1930, Simenon completed Pietr-le-Letton, the first novel in which inspector Maigret of the Paris mobile crime brigade was a fully developed character. The novel was serialised in Fayard's magazine Ric et Rac later that year. Simenon considered this the first "true" Maigret novel, and it was the first fictional work to appear under Simenon's real name. Maigret was reputed to be based on Marcel Guillaume, an actual French detective, although Simenon variously claimed not to remember the inspiration or that Maigret was influenced by his father. Outdoors, he usually wears a thick black overcoat. In the 1930s, he wears a bowler hat, but from the 1940s he wears a fedora. He frequently smokes a tobacco pipe. He is happily married to his wife Louise (usually referred to as Madame Maigret). He doesn't like his first name being used and prefers to be called "Maigret". Even his wife usually calls him "Maigret", only using his first name a handful of times. At work, he is aided by "The Faithful Four": detectives Lucas, Janvier, Lapointe, and Torrence. Maigret was from the village of Saint-Fiacre in the Allier Department, where his father, Evariste Maigret, was the bailiff for the local landowner. Maigret's mother died in childbirth when he was eight. He studied medicine at Nantes, but dropped out when his father died. He began working as a police officer in Paris in his twenties. At the age of 30, he entered the Homicide Squad and became chief inspector of the squad in his late thirties. He probably retired at the age of 55, giving him over 30 year police experience. Personality and work method Maigret can be gruff, but is otherwise patient and unflappable. He relies more on intuition than logical deduction and sometimes tells his colleagues, "I never think." He aspires to be a "mender of destinies". After learning a criminal's story, he sometimes lets them go or reduces the charges against them. ==List of Works==

Novels List of Maigret novels with date of French-language publication as well as the Penguin reissue dates and titles. Short stories List of Maigret short stories by date of first publication in French. ==In other media==

Audiobooks Following the Penguin reissue of the 75 novels, actor Gareth Armstrong started recording each for Audible. Recordings took one day per book. By September 2015, he had recorded 25 of them. He has since completed all 75 recordings. Theatre A production called Maigret and the Lady by Philip Mackie toured in England and Scotland in 1965, before playing at the Strand Theatre in London in October 1965. Madame Maigret was played by Charmian Eyre, and Maigret was Rupert Davies. Film The cinematic potential of Maigret was realized quickly: the first screen Maigret was Pierre Renoir in 1932's Night at the Crossroads, directed by his brother Jean Renoir; In 2024, director Pascal Bonitzer announced he would write and direct Maigret and the Dead Lover, starring Denis Podalydès. however, Simenon himself is said to have disliked Richard's Maigret because he would not take his hat off when entering a room. Later, Bruno Cremer played the character in 54 adaptations between 1991 and 2005. Romney Brent played Maigret in the Studio One episode "Stan the Killer", whilst Luis van Rooten starred in an episode of Suspense entitled "The Old Lady of Bayeux". Louis Arbessier appeared in a televised film of Liberty Bar. The Italian actor Gino Cervi played the character on Italian television from 1964 up to 1972 in Le inchieste del commissario Maigret; Simenon himself considered Cervi's interpretation of the character to be "very good." a 25-episode TV series aired from 14 April to 29 May 1978 on Asahi TV. Megure's wife was played by Sato Tomomi, who earned the praises of Simenon himself: "The best 'Madame Maigret' in my opinion, even including the French ones, was the 'Madame Maigret' on Japanese television. She was exactly right". Rupert Davies played the title role in the 1960s British Maigret TV series, which debuted on 31 October 1960. Davies took over the part after Basil Sydney, who appeared as Maigret in the original transmitted pilot, proved unavailable owing to ill-health. Davies went on to star in 52 adaptations for BBC TV in that decade. His portrayal won two of the highest accolades: his versions were dubbed into French and played across the Channel; and Simenon himself said of Davies "At last, I have found the perfect Maigret!" The theme tune to the TV series, "Midnight in Montmartre", was composed by Ron Grainer. Kees Brusse and Jan Teulings also portrayed the character in separate Dutch adaptations produced around the same time. Granada Television produced an adaptation of Maigret for ITV in 1992 and 1993 in which Michael Gambon starred as Maigret; there were 12 adaptations in the two series. An earlier version, Maigret (1988) on ITV cast Richard Harris in the lead role. In 2004, Sergio Castellitto played Maigret in two Italian TV movies: La trappola ("The Trap") and ''L'ombra cinese'' ("The Chinese Shadow"). Rowan Atkinson played Maigret in four television films made by ITV from 2016 to 2017. The first two episodes were adapted from Maigret Sets a Trap and ''Maigret's Dead Man. Two further episodes were broadcast in 2017, adapted from Maigret at the Crossroads and Maigret in Montmartre''. In 2021, the Simenon estate signed a co-production and licensing deal with Playground Entertainment and Red Arrow Studios to produce a new English-language series, with the option extending to the entire Maigret canon. In September 2024, the cast and crew for the series was announced, led by Benjamin Wainwright as Maigret. The new series first aired in October, 2025. Radio Maurice Denham played Chief Inspector Maigret in a series of three-quarter-hour dramatizations of the novels on BBC Radio 4 beginning in 1976, with Michael Gough playing Georges Simenon. The format of each play would begin with Maigret and Simenon sitting together discussing some fact or event which would then lead into Maigret's recounting a particular case, with Simenon asking questions or commenting from time to time. After Denham's death, the series was continued in 2003 with Nicholas Le Prevost playing a gruffer, more earthy Maigret and Julian Barnes playing Simenon. In the interim, Bernard Hepton starred in a 1986 Saturday Night Theatre adaptation of ''Maigret's Special Murder'', whilst Barry Foster played the detective in 1998's ''Maigret's Christmas'' for the Afternoon Play. In 1990-1991, abridgments of some of the novels (including "Madame Maigret's Case," "Maigret and the Tavern by the Seine," and "Maigret in Montmartre") were serialized in daily one-minute installments on WNCN, a classical music station in New York City. They were read every night at midnight in a radio program called the "H.B.J. Midnight Murder Mystery Minute." Comics Jacques Blondeau adapted the novels into the comic series Maigret (1950–53), published in Samedi Soir and Paris Journal. Rumeu (drawings) and Camille Dulac (script) adapted the Maigret story L'Affaire Nahour into the comic strip Maigret in 1969. Between 1992 and 1997 the series Maigret inspired five albums, drawn by and . ==Statue==

In 1966 a statue of Maigret by Pieter d'Hont was erected in Delfzijl, Netherlands, where Simenon wrote the first Maigret novel. Simenon unveiled it on 3 September 1966 and a number of actors who had portrayed Maigret attended. ==Notes==